knbber2:Who wants a car that can only go about 200 miles and then has to recharge for most of the day? And the baseline is only $60K, what a bargain.

In the last year, that wouldn't have been a problem for me, even when I was running in circles for work and various errands. And 60k is competitive with a BMW 5, lexus, or merc - all nice cars, but hardly exotics. Yes, a little out of my range, but another decent year in the market, who knows?

I don't see them becoming the replacement for the one-car minivan-owning family (if one exists anywhere in the US anymore), but they've gone from being a wildly exotic plaything of millionaires, to being a "maybe I'll take a look at it" alternative.

knbber2:Who wants a car that can only go about 200 miles and then has to recharge for most of the day? And the baseline is only $60K, what a bargain.

Who drives more than 200 miles in a day on average?

And the few times a year someone does need to drive further, then just Priceline a rental car for a few days (~$12 a day usually). Or you know, use the second vehicle that the people who can drop $60K on a car usually have. If I was in the market for a car in that price range, I'd buy one.

knbber2:Who wants a car that can only go about 200 miles and then has to recharge for most of the day?

A lot of people, actually. Now, obviously this is still a niche product. I don't know about you, but I live in an apartment complex so there's no convenient way for me to charge an electric car in the parking lot. So right away the bulk of your market is going to be people with a home/garage. But considering the price tag, most people in the market for a car like this probably already own their own home.

But if I had the means I'd definitely snap one of these up. Slap some solar panels on the roof of the garage and a small battery array... For most people, it would save them a couple/few hundred dollars a month. Not really enough to recoop your costs on everything, but still pretty nice. Maybe even enough to take a good sized bite out of the monthly car payment...

And as others have said, the electric car in general is still more or less in its infancy. I'll be interested to see where this leads the auto industry in 10 years.

knbber2:Who wants a car that can only go about 200 miles and then has to recharge for most of the day? And the baseline is only $60K, what a bargain.

$49K according to their website. And I doubt most people drive 200 or more miles a day. I probably do 60 with work and misc errands. I don't think they had cross-country road trips in mind when they came up with the idea. It's a shame they can't make them affordable enough that regular people could get one though.

For those talking about range issues, EVs are not at the stage where you can do a practical long-haul drive. They are for city commuting and smaller trips, nobody realistically drives 100-200 miles daily in a single go... You can go to work, use 80% of your range, charge there while you're not using the car, and in 2-3 hours your car is back at 100%.

A guy just completed a trip from SF to LA in a day (400mi) in a BMW ActiveE that only gets 106mi of range on a good day. Practical? No. Feasible? Totally.

I need to drive 500 miles a day and pull 5 tons of concrete on a trailer so these cars are stupid. This is even dumber than the subway. Can you get 5 tons of concrete on a subway? No. Because it is stupid. Who would ever use that?

dp3:For those talking about range issues, EVs are not at the stage where you can do a practical long-haul drive. They are for city commuting and smaller trips, nobody realistically drives 100-200 miles daily in a single go... You can go to work, use 80% of your range, charge there while you're not using the car, and in 2-3 hours your car is back at 100%.

A guy just completed a trip from SF to LA in a day (400mi) in a BMW ActiveE that only gets 106mi of range on a good day. Practical? No. Feasible? Totally.

AverageAmericanGuy: The 'Car of the Year' awards are all slanted towards luxury models. You'll never see the Toyota Tercel or Honda Civic winning one. The basis for judgment is skewed towards high end models.

You mean like my Ford Mondeo, which won the UK equivalent 3 years in a row?

abhorrent1:knbber2: Who wants a car that can only go about 200 miles and then has to recharge for most of the day? And the baseline is only $60K, what a bargain.

$49K according to their website. And I doubt most people drive 200 or more miles a day. I probably do 60 with work and misc errands. I don't think they had cross-country road trips in mind when they came up with the idea. It's a shame they can't make them affordable enough that regular people could get one though.

I'd say that the vast majority of Americans don't drive that in a normal day. A quick Google shows that the average American commuter drives 32 miles a day round trip. Even if that number is doubled for some metropolitan areas, 200 miles per charge is way more than enough.

The Tesla S is going to be a HUGE status symbol for those that would normally buy a new BMW or Lexus.

I'm in. I'll tool down the road. My horn will blare "I PAY NO ROAD USE TAX SUCKERS!" I'll tell the SUV fatass in the cube next to me "Kindly, fatass, perchance thee to fill your tank tonight. There's an awful pothole on my commute and I desire it filled. My car, lamentably, pays naught a cent of tax for such trifles."

Then I would push the company to set up a charging station near the entrance. Like a Handicapped parking but without all those gimpy overtones. When I walk past it, I'll say something like "Look that person is making a difference. Reducing our reliance on terrist oil and pushing U S American technology forward. What a real American hero he must be. Not like those lazy get blowed up soldiers in AfgahnIraq."

Having a farm and needing to haul heavy stuff and also not being very darned close to anything so that driving is required, the idea of an electric car appeals to me not even a little bit. However, train locomotives are electric vehicles that happen to have their own, onboard diesel generator, They can obviously haul heavy loads and trains offer the most best ton/mile fuel efficiency, other than a barge floating down the river.

Not an engineer so can any of the Fark automotive experts tell me if a car/truck with an efficient diesel engine powering an electric motor is feasible? It would seem to me that a 2 cylinder diesel could run a significant electric motor and, with even a modest storage battery on board, could be a lot more efficient and allow a much greater range. Or are there vehicles out there that do that already? Or is it just a colossally stupid idea?

Mr. Right:Having a farm and needing to haul heavy stuff and also not being very darned close to anything so that driving is required, the idea of an electric car appeals to me not even a little bit. However, train locomotives are electric vehicles that happen to have their own, onboard diesel generator, They can obviously haul heavy loads and trains offer the most best ton/mile fuel efficiency, other than a barge floating down the river.

Not an engineer so can any of the Fark automotive experts tell me if a car/truck with an efficient diesel engine powering an electric motor is feasible? It would seem to me that a 2 cylinder diesel could run a significant electric motor and, with even a modest storage battery on board, could be a lot more efficient and allow a much greater range. Or are there vehicles out there that do that already? Or is it just a colossally stupid idea?

enry:Mrbogey: Ingenuity would be making one of these for the price of a standard car. If costs aren't a factor, you can build damn near anything.

And yet the major car companies and all their years and billions in research gave us...the Chevy Volt

Yea, but there is no range issue in the Volt. If you need to cruise on the interstate, get gas. Just like you do now. GM can blow me for collapsing and requiring that bailout, but the Volt is a great concept. I'll give them that.

BigBooper:abhorrent1: knbber2: Who wants a car that can only go about 200 miles and then has to recharge for most of the day? And the baseline is only $60K, what a bargain.

$49K according to their website. And I doubt most people drive 200 or more miles a day. I probably do 60 with work and misc errands. I don't think they had cross-country road trips in mind when they came up with the idea. It's a shame they can't make them affordable enough that regular people could get one though.

I'd say that the vast majority of Americans don't drive that in a normal day. A quick Google shows that the average American commuter drives 32 miles a day round trip. Even if that number is doubled for some metropolitan areas, 200 miles per charge is way more than enough.

The Tesla S is going to be a HUGE status symbol for those that would normally buy a new BMW or Lexus.

^this.

Both Audi/VW and BMW are working on EVs, because I think that they've noticed that some of the market is headed this way.

Lets not talk about how bad electric cars are for the environment... A: Create a shiatton of batterys.. take a look at the chemicals used... B: Batteries have a VERY short lifespan, especially compared to a gas motor.. C: Hey! Lets dispose of those shiatty toxic batteries by the thousands now... The whole electric car idea is bullshiat being pushed on people. Just horrible...

P.S. you should learn the truth behind recycling.. just recycling paper is VERY bad for the environment... the chemicals used.. AND the power used to recycle even paper is unreal..

Harry Freakstorm:I'm in. I'll tool down the road. My horn will blare "I PAY NO ROAD USE TAX SUCKERS!" I'll tell the SUV fatass in the cube next to me "Kindly, fatass, perchance thee to fill your tank tonight. There's an awful pothole on my commute and I desire it filled. My car, lamentably, pays naught a cent of tax for such trifles."

Then I would push the company to set up a charging station near the entrance. Like a Handicapped parking but without all those gimpy overtones. When I walk past it, I'll say something like "Look that person is making a difference. Reducing our reliance on terrist oil and pushing U S American technology forward. What a real American hero he must be. Not like those lazy get blowed up soldiers in AfgahnIraq."